Silver nanowires – unique templates for functional nanostructures

Abstract

This feature article reviews the synthesis and application of silver nanowires with the focus on a polyol process that is capable of producing high quality silver nanowires with high yield. The as-synthesized silver nanowires can be used as both physical templates for the synthesis of metal/dielectric core/shell nanowires and chemical templates for the synthesis of metal nanotubes as well as semiconductor nanowires. Typical examples including Ag/SiO(2) coaxial nanocables, single- and multiple-walled nanotubes made of Au-Ag alloy, AgCl nanowires and AgCl/Au core/shell nanowires are discussed in detail to illustrate the versatility of nanostructures derived from silver nanowire templates. Novel properties associated with these one-dimensional nanostructures are also briefly discussed to shed the light on their potential applications in electronics, photonics, optoelectronics, catalysis, and medicine.

Engineering Gold Nanotubes with Controlled Length and Near‐Infrared Absorption for Theranostic Applications

“…Characterizations: The UV-Vis absorption spectra were recorded with a Perkin-Elmer Model [57] according to reaction 2 (some Ag was also removed by treatment with NH 3 ⋅H 2 O, following reaction 3 [58] Images were reconstructed using a model-based approach for offline analysis. After image reconstruction, spectral unmixing was performed to resolve individual components from different chromophores in the system.…”

Hollow metal nanostructures for enhanced plasmonics: synthesis, local plasmonic properties and applications

“…Thus, Xia group has widely studied how Ag nanocubes synthesized by using a polyol process and then oxidized by an aqueous HAuCl 4 solution generate uniform Au nanoboxes or nanocages [64,[96][97][98][99]. Similarly, Ag nanowires have been widely exploited as templates for the preparation of hollow nanotubes via the GRR [86,97,[100][101][102][103][104]. Other structures commonly obtained through the GRR between HAuCl 4 and the corresponding Ag template include nanorings [105,106], nanoframes [107][108][109], and nanorattles [110][111][112][113][114].…”

Synthesis and Optical Characteristics of Silver Nanoparticles on Different Substrates

“…Silver has the highest electrical conductivity (6.3 × 107 S/m) among all the metals, by virtue of which Ag NWs are considered as very promising candidates in flexible electronics [11][12][13]. Since then, Ag NW films have been fabricated using techniques, such as vacuum filtration, transfer printing onto polyethylene substrates, drop casting, and air-spraying from NW suspension.…”